Pope to visit Cuba before heading to United States

The Vatican confirmed that Pope Francis will visit Cuba prior to his trip to the U.S. in September.

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis will visit Cuba in September
before his trip to the United States.

Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, told
reporters April 22 that the pope has "received and accepted
the invitation from the civil authorities and bishops of
Cuba" and has decided to visit the island before going to the
United States.

The pope is tentatively scheduled to arrive in Washington
late Sept. 22 and will visit Washington, New York and
Philadelphia Sept. 23-27. However, details such as the dates
and itinerary for his trip to Cuba would come at a later
time, Father Lombardi said.

Visiting Cuba and the United States on the same trip abroad
signals Pope Francis' continuing interest in encouraging the
normalization of relations between them.

In December, U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban President
Raul Castro announced their nations were working toward
re-establishing official diplomatic relations.

Both leaders credited Pope Francis with helping to secure the
deal. The pope had been following and supporting the talks.
He had also written personal letters to both leaders, and the
Vatican hosted a secret meeting between representatives of
the countries last fall.

The U.S. first imposed a trade embargo on Cuba in 1960 in
reaction to the repression and human rights abuses that
followed the Marxist revolution that put Fidel Castro in
power the previous year. President John F. Kennedy expanded
the embargo, and subsequent presidents maintained it.

In his annual address to diplomats serving at the Vatican,
Pope Francis hailed the agreement as "one example close to my
heart of how dialogue can build bridges."

The popes continually voiced hopes that the embargo would be
lifted and that the strained relations would be healed.

In 1998, not long after he became archbishop of Buenos Aires,
Argentina, then-Archbishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio published a
booklet focused on the speeches and homilies St. John Paul II
made during his historic visit to Cuba a few months earlier.

The text made two major points: Dialogue is not only
possible, but it is necessary; and, a sincere and honest
dialogue would benefit both the U.S. and Cuba.

At the same time, Archbishop Bergoglio repeatedly argued for
the full freedom of the Catholic Church in Cuba to preach the
Gospel and minister to the poor and denounced ideological
systems that offended the transcendent dignity of the human
person.

During his 2012 visit to Cuba, Pope Benedict XVI made the
same points. Once he returned to Rome, he said he had gone to
show support for Cuban church's mission "to proclaim the
Gospel with joy despite the lack of means and difficulties
still left to overcome so that religion may carry out its
spiritual and educational service in the public realm."